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Putting finish as Natuional culture is a bit of a 2 edged sword. Although I agree that the fins in this timeline would be more comfterble then in our timeline. But fins being fins this is difficult. Anyway it is your choice.

asd21593: Hehe, I am more into the power metal side of the Finnish metal scene. Sonata Arctica, Nightwish, Kilpi, Kotitellesous (+sp). Although I do like Norther quite a lot. More than Ensiferum, as ironically as it sounds

Ziiman, mirell: Thanks for your votes and for the praise

Colonel Bran: Well, between vodka drinkers, I am sure Russians and Finns can find a common language >.> *runs to a Swiss army bunker anticipating a rain of rotten tomatoes*

TheViPer: Absolutely no plans to take anything from Scandinavia, even less so annex it. And thank you for the praise

The year 1908 began with a decisive military victory for Russia in a lighting campaign in Greece. But that same year also heralded an important battle for Russian diplomacy in the face of the Great Powers’ negative perception of Russian “active gendarming” in the Balkans. There was no outcry over the move, as nobody wished to anger the Bear and the Bear’s three million strong army and growing. In Russia, the intervention into Greece was likened to the past intervention into Hungary: a legitimate move at the behest of the lawful royal authority of the state.

“Have you heard of the latest street joke in Stockholm?” the Scandinavian ambassador to Petersburg once asked a member of the Imperial Foreign Office.

“Not at all, please share,” the Russian replied.

“If you see Cossacks in Stockholm at sunset, then it means Scandinavia was a republic at noon!”

It was thus that an international conference was proposed at the initiative of the Russian side to ponder upon problems of the use of force on the international arena and how such force should be used. The idea was strongly supported by the US President Theodore Roosevelt, who wished to go even further and produce a consensus to stop the ever growing militarization of Europe and the world in general. The conference would be held in the Hague, within “neutral” Dutch territory as the Netherlands, whilst enjoying cordial relations with the Russian Empire, maintained a policy of non-alignment with the Russian Bear and non-angering the German Eagle.

The Hague Peace Conference was the first of its kind

During the conference, the Americans, with Russian support, attempted to limit or even halt the production of Dreadnought class ships. The initiative, however, was opposed by the Germans, who saw it as a threat to their naval hegemony, and the British, who were eager to restore their Empire as the world’s naval superpower. France sought to seek an accord on the limitation of armaments, but this also met German opposition who cited the continued expansion of Russian armies. Russia, on the other hand, was not eager to sacrifice her ground forces on the altar of international peace.

What the conference did produce, however, was the first internationally accepted set of rules of engagement in case of war on land and on sea. An important item was the status of Prisoners of War that defined what categories of persons could be considered as Prisoners of War and forbid the maltreatment and exploitation of such prisoners. A dispute arose around the definition of armed guerilla fighters, with the powers deeming them brigands and the smaller states deeming them as lawful combatants. Eventually, the head of the Russian delegation, Fyodor Martens, proposed a consensus clause that referred to the customs and traditions established amongst civilized peoples.

The conference also agreed on the setting up of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which was tasked with facilitating ad hoc arbitration tribunals and commissions to resolve arising disputes between powers that those powers chose to submit to arbitration.

All in all, the conference was a success for Russian diplomacy and managed to relieve some of the tensions slowly building up in Europe. But whilst on the short term relations improved, Izvolsky’s dream of a Franco-Russo-British military alliance was far from realization. Whilst relations with France continued to bloom, relations with the British were quite sour. Moreover, the Imperial Foreign Minister had to face an uphill battle against many in the Russian establishment that advocated such things as capturing the rest of India from the British. Pro-German sentiments were also on the increase as the staunch conservatives in Russia saw Germany as closer politically to Russia than republican France, which in turn made the French Ambassador to Petersburg rather nervous.

Another diplomatic offensive was undertaken on a more Nordic front as contacts intensified with the Scandinavians. The main objective of Russian diplomacy was to reduce or end the Germanophilic tendencies of the Scandinavian foreign policy and to potentially lure Scandinavia out of the Central Alliance. Stolypin personally met with Jřrgen Lřvland, the Scandinavian Prime Minister, in Stockholm to bolster trade between the two countries. The exact content of the discussions, however, remained behind closed doors and it would not be surprising if trade was not the only thing on the agenda. Stolypin was also granted an audience with His Majesty Gustav V, who was seen in the Russian diplomatic establishment as a major Germanophile in all of Scandinavia (major as in he was, after all, the Viking King).

Overall, 1908 was a busy time for Russian diplomats. But this did not mean that there were no events within Russia proper. But this shall be discussed in a further chapter.

Last edited by Mishgan; 07-04-2009 at 02:13.

Revenge of the Bear! A BeAARhug just for you!Weekly showcase 11/05/09on well deserved rest"Isn't that Britain's worst nightmare you've got going there? Russians -- and Chinese -- in India. I tell you, it's like having a global tea shortage." - Irenicus

Nice to know wars now have rules. Would have been nice to see Europe demobilizing but not exactly likely. I guess if you can't demobilize those divisions, you'll just have to destroy them in combat. Who's for a major European land war?

The Romanovs, in general, were a very pious dynasty and amongst them the most pious with no doubt was Prince Ioann Constantinovich. Prince of Imperial Blood, he thus came to be a nice addition to the Orthodox Church when in early 1908 he passed the initiation of a deacon. Who knows, maybe in thirty years the world’s most powerful Patriarch would be a Romanov? Only time can tell.

Away from the Imperial family and the Church and to matters more earthly, that year saw the foundation of the Kursk Tank Works, the world’s first tank “factory”. The company was founded by private capital, with intensive interest of the War Ministry in the venture, to develop and produce “tanks”. The use of the Anglicism is explained by the private nature of the venture, with Russian entrepreneurs having long term interests on exporting to the United States. It was wisely deemed by Russian capitalists that Yankees would have some problems with writing and pronouncing “vezdekhod”.

The Kursk governorate was becoming Russia’s main arsenal.

The city of Kursk was chosen because it was already an important chain in the Russian military-industrial complex. The Kursk Artillery Works already produced the bulk of Russia’s artillery. The ongoing buildup of the Imperial Army in accordance with the new directives has, quite logically, created an economic boom in Kursk as demand for artillery grew. This also profited the Kursk Steel Works, which provided an important part of Russia’s steel production.

On the short term, however, the tank factory was far from being ready to stamp out tanks of demand. It was a small industrial complex that concentrated on research and development, producing a number of prototypes over the course of the year. It would take an estimated two years before the factory could envision actual production of actual tanks to be delivered to the Army.

Russian bureaucracy worked like clockwork.

Things were also looking bright in other spheres. The Russian Empire, although gigantic in size and in population and having a rather complex administrative and political organization, nevertheless managed to establish an efficient bureaucracy, at least as far as the non-colonial territory was concerned. It would be foolish to say that it was perfect, that there was no corruption and that everything functioned like clockwork all the time, but in general, His Imperial Majesty’s subjects were quite content with how the government’s institutions worked.

Within the colonies, however, the situation was slightly different even if varying from colony to colony. Generally, however, corruption was low. Stolypin’s gradual transformation of the Empire into a de facto police state helped establish a closer control over all government employees, including colonial oblast and provincial administrators who were most often civilians as opposed to the overall military colonial administration. Nevertheless, it was still much easier to open a business venture in the colonies than in the “Empire proper” by “knowing the right people” and “having the right presents”.

Speaking of colonies, Grodekov’s project of a Yellow Russia made a first step to realization when the Emperor issued an Edict authorizing the establishment of the “Mixed Russian-Native Sungari Cossack Host”, thus ratifying the General’s personal initiative of creating small Cossack settlements along the Railway on the Harbin-Qiqihar and Harbin-Pogranichnaya (on the border with the Primorsk governorate) directions. However, in the Edict it was explicitly forbidden to enroll any further volunteers from the Amur and Ussuri Cossacks by fear of leaving the border of the “Empire proper” undefended. Quite logically, should Grodekov’s project succeed, the need for the two small hosts would end, and the two hosts could either be merged into the Sungari host and those who wished to be left as peasants.

A Sungari Cossack of Manchu origins with his family, stanitsa Alexandrovskaya

The new Host was a mixed Russian-Native and, thus, could enroll from the local military elites. Albeit recruitment from local Manchus and even Mongols from nearby Mountain Mongolia was small, it was steady, mainly explained by the economic, tax and social autonomy privileges accorded to all Cossacks by the Imperial government. The new Host took on assisting in the protection of the Trans-Manchurian Railway from attacks by Manchurian bandits or rebels or both, as well as creating an area of Russian settlements along that same railway to solidify Imperial grip on the territory.

Last edited by Mishgan; 07-04-2009 at 23:47.

Revenge of the Bear! A BeAARhug just for you!Weekly showcase 11/05/09on well deserved rest"Isn't that Britain's worst nightmare you've got going there? Russians -- and Chinese -- in India. I tell you, it's like having a global tea shortage." - Irenicus

robou: There’s too much distrust between the European powers to allow for a demobilisation. Besides, Victoria is not SimCity

RGB: There are things going on that are out of the spotlight for now.

Dimmimar: More or less. I can beat Germany, but the price would be high. This is the Imperial Army of today. This is what it’d look like after war with Germany. So I am not in a rush for a war for now.

asd21593: In defence of the people back then, the joke was made up by me at the last moment as a flavour addition to the post >.>

Revenge of the Bear! A BeAARhug just for you!Weekly showcase 11/05/09on well deserved rest"Isn't that Britain's worst nightmare you've got going there? Russians -- and Chinese -- in India. I tell you, it's like having a global tea shortage." - Irenicus

I love how the "arsenal" is dedicated to producing two things; guns and booze
And it was certainly a shifty move to toss out Prince Ioann Constantinovich into the story like that... will he be forced by circumstances to become the new Tsar at some point in the future, or is he merely a narrative decoy?

"Taking over the world with the USSR isn't a mission... it's just a passtime." -blue emu

There are some really Mongol-looking Cossacks on turn-of-century photos of the Transbaikal/Semirechye/Ussuri hosts.

Although I doubt they would disestablish the Amur and Ussuri hosts even if Zheltorossia is an unmitigated success - they'd probably move the bulk of them into some new host (Central Asia or Mountain Mongolia) to beef up the borders and leave a skeleton force in the old spots, like what happened to the Siberian and Orenburg hosts.

The biggest problem with the Cossacks is that unless newly established they own a lot of land - disproportionate to the population. But then Manchuria always needs more European settlers, no?

-----

Well, since the Tsar is the head of the Synod, it makes sense one of the family becomes a Patriarch.

I recently started to play Victoria MP with Russia and I must say that you are doing a lot better , especially regarding industrial score. Though I am leader by 300-400 points you are way ahead. State capitalism wasn't that great idea after all

Eams: Well, yes. Russians are Russians As of the Prince, it's a little bit more complex than that.

RGB: Indeed, that is a picture of an Ussuri Cossack family I stole from a site dedicated to the host. As of the Amur and Ussuri hosts in my alternative reality, I believe you are right. It is far too early for the Empire to even consider the hypothetical possibility of thinking about a potential disbandment of the two hosts

robou: And it can do quite a lot, as the future Chapter shall show. Some new armament programs are on the agenda

Edzako: Well, I stick to the Interventionist/Protectionist combination and really concentrate on the most strategic and vital of factories. Second priority goes to the factories that produce goods that are in the highest demand on the WM, as to optimise my exports

demokratickid: As far as the Empire proper and the three self-ruling monarchies are concerned, yes, people are quite happy. As you know, I artificially maintain a rather high discontent in my colonies so as to make things more difficult for me

Revenge of the Bear! A BeAARhug just for you!Weekly showcase 11/05/09on well deserved rest"Isn't that Britain's worst nightmare you've got going there? Russians -- and Chinese -- in India. I tell you, it's like having a global tea shortage." - Irenicus